


In the Land of Ice and Snow

by myrskytuuli



Series: Hetalia avengers short stories [7]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Finland being bamf, Jotunheim and Asgard are so full of their own importance, M/M, Sweden pining, small nordic nations not doing what they are supposed to
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-09
Updated: 2017-05-09
Packaged: 2018-10-29 22:43:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10863606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myrskytuuli/pseuds/myrskytuuli
Summary: the year is 965, and Asgard has taken three small nordic kingdoms under his guidance. Unfortunately, Jotunheim has hir own student...





	In the Land of Ice and Snow

_"The Finns have long been associated with magic. Sailors considered it bad luck to kill a Finn. The Norwegian kings forbade their citizens to travel to Finland to consult magicians. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Swedish government searched for and confiscated goudbas, the magic drums of the Lapp and Finn shamans." -Finnish Magic and the Old Gods_

_" **Flagð** , is rendered sometimes as giantesses, sometimes troll-women, sometimes witches. To make things more confusing, what is meant by “troll” often varies. It didn’t necessarily mean a particular species of vaettir, but often simply a witch or magic user (or a Finnish or Saami person, who were all assumed to be magic users)"- https://grumpylokeanelder.wordpress.com/_

_"In those dwelt the wild people, who sometimes yearly, and sometimes every third year, broke from their unknown lurking places, and brought devastation over the levels, unless vigorously opposed, retreating with equal haste. These remnants of fennic races are demonstrably the Jotuners or Jotuns of the heathen scalds." -the History of the Swedes_

_"In the song of Thiodulf to the honour of Thor, that god is termed the destroyer of mountain-wolves, the overturner of the altars of the Fornjotish idols, the conqueror of Jotuns and Finns. [-] so Snorro Sturleson, in the Heimskringla, uses Finns and Jotuns as synonyms." -The Natural History of Man_

* * *

 

Year 965

The lights sparkled from Noregr’s fingers as the spell took effect, and floated up towards the night sky to eventually join the northern lights. At least that was what Svearike always thought happened to the magical lights that Asgard was teaching Noregr to use. It seemed logical. Noregr probably knew better what happened to his lights, but as Svearike had never been taught the art of runemagic, he was content to make his own theories.

Danmǫrk was not as content to keep his wonder silent, and Asgard had already banned him from attending any spellcrafting lessons, as he was deemed to be too much of an distraction to Noregr. The loud southern land had complained, and then demanded that Asgard spent at least twice as long teaching him the art of the sword. Asgard had been forced to agree, just to get Danmǫrk to shut up. 

Asgard had a clear plan on how he was going to teach his new wards. The three of them all had their places in Asgard’s grand plan to create a civilization influenced by the Asgardian ideology. Noregr had been chosen to learn the art of magic. Danmǫrk, had been chosen to learn the art of the sword, which he had taken with enthusiasm that sometimes drove even Asgard to exhaustion. And Svearike had been chosen to learn the art of ruling. Asgard had painted a picture of the future where Svearike would rule over the entire realm, with the help of Noregr and Danmǫrk, and be beholden only to Asgrad, the one that ruled over all the nine realms. Svearike found Asgard’s visions almost impossible to see in his own imagination, but was glad that Asgard was teaching him any way. Asgard was strong and wise, and was helping them defend themselves against the frost giants, who slaughtered their people indiscriminately and had claimed parts of Svearike’s land as their own.

 

“They look just like my people.”

Jotunheim glanced down at hir young protégé. It was a long way down to glance. Standing next to the full grown frost giant, the young boy looked microscopic.

“Maybe they do, but they are enemies.”

“But are they really _my_ enemies?” The boy grumbled silently. The frost giant heard it anyway.

“Are they not carrying the insignia of the royal house of tyrants around their necks.”

Young Suomi kneeled down next to a body and pulled the hammer necklace from under the corpse’s shirt.

“See?” Jotunheim said. “They have chosen to support the reign of the realm of the oppressors. And is it not true that those lackeys of Asgard keep attacking you?”

Suomi could do nothing but nod. Jotunheim was of course right. His people were never truly safe settling near the shore, as the Viking raids were always a threat.

“Asgard has taught them his barbaric ways, and I am not surprised. Come little Suomi. I will teach you some magic, so you may protect yourself from the savages.”

Suomi followed his new friend, wondering if the corpses shouldn’t be buried.

 

“My king.”

Odin turned around, looking at his realm. “What is it?”

“I have found the reason why King Laufey and his army cannot be found.”

“What is it?”

“The monster has help. It has taken one of the native lands as its apprentice and has taught its unnatural arts to that land. The Jotnar cannot be found because the land where they are hiding in is actively protecting and helping them.”

Odin’s face darkened and his grip on the spear tightened.

“Isn’t there anything you can do?”

“Not me. This is not my land, not even my planet. But I’ll see what one of my students can do.”

 

Svearike was proud when it was him that Asgard chose for this mission. He wanted to prove himself to Asgard. That he was a worthy warrior too.

“Now listen well.” The older realm prepared Svearike. “Be quiet, be quick. Anyone who has been taught the unnatural and evil magicks by the monster, needs to be killed quickly.”

“But You have taught Noregr Magic too?”

“I have taught him runemagic. Which is proper, and good. The magic used by the monster however is an abomination.”

“okay.”

“Remember. Strike hard, and strike true, and bring the body straight to us. When it revives, we will make it tell us where the frost giants are hiding.”

 

Svearike immediately noticed a flaw in his plan to sneak up on the Frost Giant apprentice and slay him. The fact that now that he had managed to find him, he couldn’t seem to make himself move. Svearike had expected to find a monstrous being, the likes his people made stories about hiding in the woods in the east, a troll-like witch.

What he had found was a being much like himself and his brothers, only much more beautiful. The pale winter sunlight that made its way down between the thick branches of the fir-trees, illuminated hair spun from pale gold. The face that he had glimpsed underneath the hood, had been fair and alluring. He was dressed in simple clothes made of animal skins and furs, and had two long woods tied to his feet, which seemed to give him the ability to glide on top of the thick snowbanks without sinking in. Svearike, who himself had struggled in the thigh deep snow, found himself jealous and impressed at the same time.

From his place, hiding in the shadows of the trees, Svearike watched as this “Finlonti” stopped near the frozen lake, and prepared to make a fire. Svearike knew that now was his time. The other boy had not noticed him yet, and could be taken unawares. He didn’t want to disappoint Asgard after all.

He bolted from his hiding place, sword tightly wrapped in his hand, and prepared to bury the hilt deep into the stomach of this foreigner. Finlonti let out a surprised scream, as he saw his ambusher, and threw a flaming log into the way of attacking Svearike. He had lost his element of surprise, and the distraction was enough to let Finlonti to back away from him, to stand panting and terrified in the slippery ice of the lake. Svearike also panted, from conflicting feelings, as he tried to find his own footing on the slippery ice where he had followed retreating Finlonti.

Finlonti had nothing but his knife gripped tightly in his hands, which would be nothing against Svearike’s sword. But still Svearike did not strike. He was too busy staring into the enchanting violet eyes in front of him.

“You are the one from the west!” The mouth underneath those eyes said, in the language of the kingdom-spirits.

“And you are the one helping the frost giants!” Svearike answered, in the same language. He wanted to get closer, to see if those eyes were truly as queerly coloured seen up close, or if he was just imagining it.

“What do you want from me?” Finlonti demanded, voice as cold as the ice they both were standing on. However, one could hear an undercurrent of panic under the forced toughness.

What did Svearike want from him? He wanted to slay him, wasn’t that right? Expect now that he was here, looking at his mysterious eastern neighbour, he did not want to do that at all.

“I… Asgard sent me-“

It was the wrong thing to say, as Finlonti’s eyes flashed with visible fear, before he started to sing something in the savage language of his people. A spellsong, Svearike realised, as the ice underneath him opened up, and plunged him into the freezing waters below.

 

“You know that this is exactly the opposite of what you were supposed to do.” Noregr pointed out in his dry tone. Svearike glared at him, underneath the bundle of blankets. He had died several times from hypothermia on his way home. It had not gotten any easier the more it happened. Svearike didn’t want to tell anyone, but drowning in that lake had been the first time his physical body had died, and it was not an experience that he would have wanted to feel again.

“Well, I guess that Asgard should have gone himself, if he wanted to retrieve the witch of the east for interrogation.” Svearike looked at Noregr with surprise. He had always assumed that the coastal land possibly worshiped the realm from above.

“Are you criticizing Asgard?”

“I’m just stating a fact.”

Noregr rose and left Svearike to his own devices, with only his doubts and questions, and the memory of the beautiful being and his violet eyes, as his company.    

 

“My king?”

“My realm. The council and I have come to an agreement. We cannot afford to lengthen this war anymore. If we want to put to stop to Jotunheim’s influence through the nine realms, we must strike into the heart of the empire. We will start preparing for campaign against Jotunheim’s planet itself from this moment on.”

“Yes, your highness.” 

 

“Noregr, I will leave with you a gift. I will want you to look after it with all the magic I have taught you.”

“What is it Asgard?” Noregr, asked, holding the glowing blue cube in his hands.

“It will protect you, if Jotunheim ever decides to start invading again. Keep it safe and secure, it is a powerful magical item.”

“Yes Asgard.” 

“And Svearike.”

“Yes Asgard.”

“Hunt down that Jotunheim’s pet realm. Letting him live will be a threat to all of you, and to all of the civilized world.”

Svearike didn’t say anything, only nodded, but in his mind a different resolve was already forming.

 

* * *

 

Year 2012

In the corner of the UN building’s secret floor, Sweden and Finland were enjoying the show of Asgard being completely overwhelmed by the usual insanity that the earthly nations were bound to cause in the presence of alcohol.

“Well, he has not changed at all.”

“He is a hegemony; I doubt that he’s going to change anytime soon.”

“hmm.”

Finlands cheeks were gently flushed from the alcohol, and there was a wicked glint in his eyes, that Sweden so loved. “Do you think that he is still expecting you to hold on to his orders to kill me?”

“Well I would sure hope not, as he would end up quite disappointed.”

The glint had not disappeared from Sweden’s significant other’s eyes. On the other hand, it made him look unfairly sexy. On the other hand, Sweden was slightly worried that his wilder half might cause an inter-galactic incident by doing something stupid while drunk. It was what Finland specialised in. Doing stupid things while drunk. When sober, he could be the most responsible and sweet man you would ever meet. After a beer however, he turned into a creature straight from hell.

“But I probably should not tell him that I still keep in contact with Ymir.”

“You what?! Since when?”

“Since ze left. We chat every century or so. Or whenever I have time to take proper shamanistic astral journey. There is a reason I never got rid of the old witchdrum.”

“How have I never known about this?!”

“I don’t tell you everything.”

His ex-eastern-half-of-the-empire and current boyfriend just smiled cheekily at him and then let his eyes roam back to assess Asgard. “I heard a rumour that they almost went back to war again.”

“Did Asgard and Jotunheim at some point stop having a war then?”

“That’s a good point, it probably depends on what you count as war, and who you are asking. What I understand, there is a bit of a cold war situation going on between them.” Finland managed to laugh at his own terrible pun. Sweden just put an arm over his shoulders and pulled his significant other against him, because what else was he supposed to do.

Taking a long gulp of his own beer, Sweden decided that to hell with proper diplomacy. Sometimes you just had to live before you got dissolved. “I dare you to use Jotunhemian magic in front of him.” He whispered to Finland’s ear, and got a devilish laugh in return. “I dare you to filthily kiss me right in front of him.” Finland whispered back.

Well, a dare was a dare, and who was he to back down from one. After all, Asgard had taught him to never say no to a challenge.

 

**Author's Note:**

> And then Asgard promptly went and locked himself in the bathroom to have an existential crisis, and NO! He is NOT jealous! Or missing any frozen realms... 
> 
> btw, the names used for the nordics come from: Hversu Noregr byggðis, old norse account of Norwegian lineages, Svearike is one of the medieval forms of Sverige, Finlonti is a name found carved in old Swedish runestones, and Danmǫrk is an old Norse word for Denmark.


End file.
